This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In various applications, it is desirable to deliver a gas to a subject for a selected purpose. A gas may be provided to saturate a liquid, fill a volume, etc. The gas may be delivered via a bubbler or similar apparatus.
Providing a volume or number of bubbles to a volume, such as a human subject, can be used for various procedures. In some examples, providing a volume of bubbles to a subject can be used as an echogenic contrast agent. Bubbles may be created by the agitation of a solution, such as saline, by reciprocating connected syringes and injecting the results into bubble volume. For example, agitated air in saline and agitated air in blood and saline mixtures can generate bubbles that are introduced intravenously. Agitation methods can generate bubbles in the range of 26 μm to 32 μm, as disclosed in Doo-Soo Jeon, M. D. et al., “The usefulness of a 10% air-10% blood-80% saline mixture for contrast in echocardiography, Doppler Measurement of Pulmonary Artery Cystolic Pressure”, J Am Coll Cardiol, 39:1, p. 124-129 (January 2002).